A/N: Make sure you read the bottom of the chapter. There was some confusion about something I did last chapter, so I need to clarify that.

o.o.o.o.o

Hogwarts Express

Evelyne had been mostly in uniform from the beginning of the train ride; really, she was just missing the robes. This was mostly because she didn't have much clothing that wasn't part of the uniform, given how little money she'd had on her in cash when she'd dropped in.

She'd stepped out shortly so that the boys could change, leaning against the door.

Part of her didn't want to eavesdrop. Part of her was resigned to the fact that eleven-year-old boys didn't realize that they were talking loud enough for their voices to carry out to her.

And part of her was just too interested to stop.

"She's weird, mate." Ron was the first to speak. "Interesting, but… weird."

"She seemed like she was trying to be nice?" Harry offered. "But I couldn't really understand some of what she was saying."

What? Evelyne frowned. Was her accent that strong?

"She talks like Percy." Ron said, "and she's a girl."

Ah. Too many big words, then?

And as for being a girl… well, then.

"You don't like her?" Harry's voice was neutral enough that Evelyne couldn't really guess at his own opinion on her.

"I don't know. She's weird. And she watches weird things. And acts a bit like Percy. And tried to get along with Malfoy. And all that stuff about being classified."

Evelyne winced. Right, that might have been enough to make her seem like a bit of an unlikely friend. Stuck-up, even.

"So you don't like her."

"I don't know what to think. Why does it matter? She's probably going to be in a different house anyway, and she doesn't really like us." Ron sounded outright grouchy now.

"…" Harry didn't answer, at least not out loud. Soon after, he started a different line of questioning, very much changing the subject.

Aaaaaaaand there goes any plan on that front.

o.o.o.o.o

Evelyne, to her later shame, was rather frosty to the boys after the overheard conversation. She deliberately ignored them and went back to her books, doing her best to avoid the having to deal with them too much. Kind as she tried to be, she was oftentimes rather passive-aggressive in showing her displeasure with someone.

The boys seemed to pick up on it, because after a few attempts at conversation, they stopped trying to draw her back into the conversation. They were almost done with the journey when the silence seemed to finally get to Ron.

"What happened out there to make you all…" Ron gestured, slightly ineffectual.

Evelyne glanced up for a second, and then back down at her book. "The carriage doors are thin."

"…What?"

"Thin enough for sound to pass through whether I want it to or not."

"…I don't get it." Ron said after a few seconds, though Harry had apparently realized the problem. He was a little more liable to remember things like that, considering his upbringing. When you were locked in a cupboard for most of your life, listening through the door became second nature.

Evelyne bit her lip and closed her eyes. "I heard everything you said while you were changing. If you think I'm weird and possibly evil, then say it to my face, not behind my back."

"…er, well, I don't think you're evil," Ron hedged, "but you have to admit that some of the things you've talked about are…"

"If this is about the Titans, I did warn you beforehand." Evelyne pursed her lips. "And while it may not qualify as children's entertainment here in the UK, it is a shounen."

"Well, yeah, but it's still weird." Ron made a face. "And the thing with Malfoy, you were getting all chummy with him and—"

"And preventing you from possibly making a mistake that could make your school life much more difficult than it needs to be!" Evelyne exclaimed. "You don't need to like Malfoy, and I know he's kind of a bigot at the moment, but whether you like him or not doesn't change the fact that his family is incredibly influential, or that Malfoy himself is probably going to command a large portion of his year's Slytherins, or that he could be a useful source of information on things that you wouldn't otherwise know! You don't need to like him to acknowledge that not irritating him is in your best interest!"

She was breathing hard now, having gone on a little too long in the rant. Evelyne took a deep breath, composing herself. "Malfoy's not the most pleasant of people, I know. You don't have to get along with him. You don't have to be allies. Just keep yourself in neutral territory instead of enemies and that will make things ten times easier for you."

Ron was looking even less convinced now, but Harry was contemplative, and managed to ask a question before Ron did.

"So why do you talk like you do? You sound a lot… older, but you don't look it."

Evelyne winced. "A lot of reading, a lot of time, and a few classes that were more advanced than I should have been taking, but that I was too bullheaded to drop out of." That was… the best she could do.

"What kind of books?" The light in Harry's eyes… he probably hadn't been able to read much with the Dursleys.

"Young Adult literature, mostly. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action-Adventure, some Slice of Life, that sort of thing. Comics and manga, too. What about you?" Come on, a conversation on a benign topic would do wonders here.

"I didn't get to read a lot, but I think I would have liked those. When you say Sci-Fi, you mean…?"

"Futuristic settings, dystopian societies, alien planets, hyper-advanced technology, mutants, the works." Evelyne grinned. "They're fun to read, and they tend to reflect people's understanding of society sometimes."

Harry seemed to struggle with something for a second, and then let go of his pride (and the drilled-in habit of not asking questions), and just asked. "What's a dystopia?"

Evelyne blinked, her face falling. "Oh. Um… do you know what a Utopia is? No? It's… a utopia is a so-called 'perfect society,' though the name translates to a society that doesn't exist, and most fictional utopias are just dystopias in disguise. A dystopia is basically the opposite of a utopia, the exact opposite of a perfect society. Totalitarian dictatorships, broken systems, that sort of thing."

"Why would you read something like that?" Ron asked, his face scrunched up.

Evelyne shrugged. "Because the plot of the story may start out as something else, but it'll always end up being how to fix the society, or at least bring it back to a tolerable medium. When an entire generation is disillusioned with the world, when it doesn't trust the government, then there's something gratifying in reading about a broken society being put back together into a better form."

The boys glanced at each other. "…Gratifying?"

"Um… satisfying, I guess. In this context, anyway." She bit her lip. "Am I actually making it harder for you to understand?"

Just my luck, too. My parents practically demanded that I read enough to get to this level, and look where it's getting me now.

"It's okay. We can learn from it." Harry assured her, transparently trying to make her feel better.

Evelyne just buried her head in her hands. Great. Now she felt guilty, and she was probably making both of the boys feel guilty, and alienating Ron, and they hadn't even made it to Hogwarts yet.

The train started slowing down.

Scratch that. They'd arrived.

o.o.o.o.o

Konohagakure no Sato

Evangeline wasn't quite angry with Ino, but she was mildly annoyed. Ino had managed to draw attention to her in a positive way, but too much attention was bad.

Partly because she didn't want to start Sue-ing.

Parly because too much attention from her peers may bring in the wrong kind of attention from outside.

Right now, sitting next to Hianta at the back of the room, she was mostly worried about the first.

The thing was, becoming friends with everyone was impossible. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were more or less givens, but the boys would be more… complicated, especially Sasuke and Shino. While no one would object to Shikamaru being a friend of hers, the other boys all presented their own problems. Kiba was too rowdy for some people, and a lot of them looked down on Chouji. Naruto's problems were numerous, but ingrained hatred learnt from parents and being the class clown were a general basis. Certain people would find Shino to be too creepy to be friends with her if she was friends with him, and Sasuke was a point of contention for pretty much the entire class, including the girls, and that was just… well, she'd find some way to deal with it.

Probably just learn the language and then intentionally irritate him until he started asking questions. It might alienate a few other people, but… meh. They'd grow up and get over it.

(Besides, she had plenty of experience when it came to dealing with surly preteen boys. Neji was not the first.)

Well, she had a year and a half to integrate herself.

o.o.o.o.o

Questions

Why is Ron being so rude and distrustful?

Ron is an eleven-year-old boy who just watched an already creepy girl try to make a peace pact with a Malfoy, whom he's been taught all his life is evil, or close to it.

Why is Evelyne being bitchy?

Because she's annoyed by the fact that, instead of coming across as cool or mysterious, she's coming across as… well, herself: slightly condescending and unwilling to consider that she might be wrong in the way that she's going about things until the fact slaps her in the face.

(The clarification I mentioned at the top.) Why did Evelyne introduce SnK/AoT to the characters?

Because I needed an excuse to introduce the spell. The spell was not an excuse to introduce the show; the show was an excuse to introduce the spell. The spell was the important part of that scene, and the show was only a way to do so; luckily, my choice of show also helped instill mistrust with Ron, so I chose well.

Why does Eva want to be friends with all the main characters?

It's easier to influence events if she's already got some kind of 'in' with the people that are part of those events. She'll probably be friends with some of the other students, but they won't be mentioned often because… well, none of the readers actually care. (I've tried introducing plot-relevant OCs before, in Fly Free, and that backfired horribly.)

o.o.o.o.o

A/N: It has recently been brought to my attention that this story is, objectively, rather terrible. Oh well.

Ja ne,

Phoenix